Article written by Daniel Max, Holistic Health Counselor, Yoga Instructor, Shiatsu Practitioner, owner of Sense of Self

The ‘Core’ is defined as a center or foundation. It is not without reason that we refer to our lower abdomen as our core. When we speak of strengthening our belly muscles, we refer to it as ‘core strengthening’. Our core is our center of gravity. Martial arts, dance, yoga, archery, weight lifting or wood chopping are all preformed better when coming from the core. However our core is not limited to just our physical center. The teachings of martial arts or yoga explain that our mental, emotional and spiritual centers reside in that same core location. The practices of meditation, theater, painting, or cooking, that are not necessarily related to motion, all teach that centering around the core is an indispensable key to achieve mastery. In Eastern cultures the core is referred to as ‘the sea of Qi’ (Chi), your vital life force. Centering awareness and breathing into the abdomen is a practice that opens our perceptions.

Most of us go through our days forgetting our core. We rush around breathing shallowly into our upper chest. No longer using the muscles around the diaphragm at their fullest potential, we grow stiff and harden through the mid section of our chest, bellow the breast. This muscular congestion develops into a chronic block of breath flow, life force, through our bodies.

With the breath stuck in the upper chest, we continuously trigger our nervous system into fight or flight response. A shallow breath is like a continuous gasping; it is designed to stimulate our nervous system into a state of emergency. This is our body’s natural way of receiving quick spurts of oxygen in times of danger; in case we need to run or fight a predator. If we get caught in this survival mode type breathing, we may experience symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, chronic fatigue or any other stress related disorder. 

On an energetic level, we have blocked access to our intuition that resides in our gut (our gut feeling.) We rely solely on the brain to figure things out, keeping all our energy up in the chest and head and therefor creating tension in the neck and shoulders.

Meanwhile the lower abdomen isn’t getting much attention. It grows stagnant. A common symptom of stagnation in the abdomen is weight gain around the midsection. Often, this is a symptom of too much cortisol, a stress hormone, rather than just caloric intake. Our digestive system is weakened due to the high level of stress that the body is experiencing and digestive disorders may occur.

Core Breathing Exercise:
Pay attention while sitting in your computer chair or driver’s seat to see if you are caving into your mid section and belly. How many hours a day do you spend folded in thismanner?

1. Sit up tall and focus on breathing into the belly. Be sure not to push the breath in forcefully but rather calmly invite it in.
   
2. Once you grow comfortable with the flow of breath in the belly, deepen the breath so that it begins from the lower abdomen and expands upward until it fills the chest as well. As you do so, concentrate on slowing down the pace of the breath and prolong each inhale and exhale.
   
3. Begin to explore the feeling of breath in the back of the body. If this is difficult to do, lean back into a chair and notice the different parts of your back pressing into the chair as you inhale and exhale.
   

If you are having a hard time feeling one of the stages, stay there for as long as you need. You may just be practicing the first part for a few weeks. Each attempt to deepen the breath wakens the nerve endings and softens the muscle tissue. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. Make it a habit to set a timer each day and spend at least 2 minutes practicing. You can do this while sitting at your desk. Before reaching for coffee or sugar to keep you going, try these exercises when you begin to feel your energy drop.